ActionSA to file no-confidence motion against Joburg mayor Thapelo Amad to 'save city from embarrassment'

ActionSA is to table a motion of no confidence against Joburg mayor Thapelo Amad, saying it wants to “save the city from embarrassment”.

This follows media interviews with Amad in which he has been unable to articulate the city's posture on key service delivery issues.

The latest being an interview with the SABC where Amad attempted to explain a R9bn loan deal he secured to fund “service delivery issues” and a “smart city”.

The interview, which Patriotic Alliance leader and coalition partner Gayton McKenzie tweeted was “embarrassing”, sparked another public debate about Amad’s competence to lead South Africa’s economic hub.

ActionSA Gauteng leader Funzi Ngobeni said Amad, an “expedient candidate between the ANC and EFF's coalition of doom”, has “time and time again proven to be woefully ill-equipped and unable to articulate a coherent plan of action and vision for Joburg”.

“Most recently, Amad has shown his inability to understand the basics of a loan agreement in a television interview. Since Amad’s election, service delivery in Johannesburg has rapidly deteriorated with heaps of rubbish filling our city’s streets,” said Ngobeni.

He said the party would also be going after Joburg speaker Colleen Makhubele. It is alleged Makhubele used ill-health as an excuse to abandon her duties in Johannesburg and was spotted in Tshwane on the same day, attending to internal COPE party squabbles.

“This is simply inexcusable, and the people of Johannesburg deserve better,” said Ngobeni.

Amad, from the Al Jama-ah minority party, was elected at the behest of the ANC and EFF as a part of their plan to claw back all metros from DA multiparty coalitions in Gauteng. 

The ANC and EFF's strategy included electing minority party members as mayors and speakers, while they occupy the mayoral committee seats.

However, Ngobeni believes Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi and his alliance with the EFF has resulted in someone not fit to lead the city being forced on residents.

“Amad and Makhubele did not elect themselves with their three seats collectively, they were elected by a compromise deal in which it appears the residents of Joburg are being asked to make the biggest compromise.”

Ngobeni said the party was also gunning for other office bearers appointed through “backhanded, crooked dealings” between the ANC and EFF.

The motions of no confidence against both Amad and Makhubele are expected to be tabled on April 25.

The party said it was ready to litigate against any effort by the speaker to protect herself and her political allies from the motions.

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